"One official delegate I spoke to after New Zealand's opening
presentation to the 180 countries attending the negotiations said
'well that was 10 minutes of nothing', "said Greenpeace New
Zealand's Political Adviser in Bonn, Geoff Keey.
"I have serious concerns about New Zealand's direction. We're
not climate change leaders. We're not even fast followers. Over
here in Bonn it's painfully clear that we're laggards."
In its presentation, New Zealand's ambassador spoke about the
concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that the world
should try to live with in the long term (known as a stabilisation
goal.)
"New Zealand's proposed stabilisation goal was no more than
450ppm. A couple of years ago, that might have seemed reasonable,
but the most recent science indicates that 450ppm is way too high,
is likely to push the world above two degrees warming, and could
trigger catastrophic climate change. Tellingly, New Zealand didn't
want to talk in terms of a temperature-based goal," said Keey.
In comparison, the Association of Small Island States, including
New Zealand's Pacific Island partners, is calling for a target of
350ppm and less than 1.5 degrees of warming. These countries are
particularly vulnerable to climate change so are acutely aware of
what the world needs to do.
"To support a goal of 450 is essentially to support annihilation
of our Pacific neighbours. If New Zealand wants to retain
credibility in the Pacific, it needs to listen to them and reflect
their concerns."
Unlike all other countries at the talks, apart from Russia and
the Ukraine, New Zealand is refusing to put forward a proposed
national emission reduction target. "Our delegation is still
holding out to see whether special pleading about "national
circumstances" is successful before offering to commit to
anything," said Keey.
"Astonishingly, New Zealand's Ambassador admitted that one of
the reasons for this delay was the review of the emissions trading
scheme."
Keey called for the review to be reconsidered, in light of the
fact it was holding up international negotiations. "The
Parliamentary Review of climate change policy is already impacting
on New Zealand's ability to be a responsible international
player."
Greenpeace is calling on the New Zealand government to commit to
a 40 per cent emissions reduction target by 2020.
Other contacts: Simon Boxer – Greenpeace Senior Climate Campaigner – 021 905 579
Kathy Cumming – Media and Communications - 021 495 216
Please contact Kathy to arrange an interview with Geoff Keey in Bonn
Exp. contact date: 2010-01-15 00:00:00